August 8, 2014 4:41pm EDTAugust 8, 2014 4:41pm EDTMichael Waltrip Racing has had the season some expected when it went from three full-time teams to two for 2014 as it tried to regroup from the Richmond race-manipulation scandal. But Waltrip won't blame the team's struggles on last year.Clint Bowyer(AP Photo)

Michael Waltrip Racing has had the season some expected when it went from three full-time teams to two for 2014 as it tried to regroup from the Richmond race-manipulation scandal.

This year, MWR is winless with Bowyer at ninth in the standings and Vickers in 18th. Bowyer is on the bubble to make the Chase, while Vickers appears to need a win in the next five races to have any chance. That third team is long gone, a victim of the Richmond race-manipulation scandal that led to severe penalties against the organization.

Bowyer and former driver Martin Truex Jr. were docked 50 points each ast season when NASCAR ruled that MWR tried to manipulate the finish of the final regular-season race at Richmond to get Truex into the Chase. The penalty, which included a $300,000 fine, knocked Truex out of the Chase. Sponsor NAPA then pulled its support, forcing MWR to cut from three full-time teams to two and leaving Truex without a ride. He now drives for Furniture Row Racing.

Team co-owner Michael Waltrip won’t blame the cut from three teams to two as a reason for his team's struggles. The aerodynamic rules for 2014 are different and it appears the Toyotas are behind Hendrick in horsepower.

“I don’t think the cut to two teams hurt us at all,” Waltrip said earlier this week at an appearance at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We were prepared for that.

“There were just a lot that went on during the offseason with the no ride-height rule. That was a really difficult engineering process to get your arms around.”

Waltrip said he would give his team a grade of “B” on the season. The team has started producing some new cars that should help.

“Our counterparts over at JGR haven’t had a tremendous amount of success, either,” Waltrip said. “We understand that we’re just lacking for a little bit of speed.

“When that’s the case, you work on everything you can and you have more sense of urgency. That’s where both organizations are right now, building the best cars they can and proving them the best they can and looking forward to the next race and seeing if we can get more speed.”

Vickers said his team cannot try to just take a big risk for a win. It needs to put him in a position to win.

“I think the biggest thing we have to do is get consistent about what we’re doing and make small improvements,” Vickers said. “Anytime you swing for the fence it can go either way.

“Granted, if the opportunity presents itself we will, but there’s only so many things you can really do.”

Bowyer has a 28-point cushion on the current Chase points cutoff for winless drivers. But if he has poor results and several other winless drivers pull off wins in the next five weeks, he could be in jeopardy.

He has just three top-fives this year, including a fourth last week at Pocono.

“(We) finally got a finish we deserved,” Bowyer said. “We just need to keep focused on what we need to do and keep getting better in the places we need to get better.

“A win would be great and that’s what we are trying to get these next few weeks but we need to keep finishing up front first and foremost.”

Waltrip said he likes the direction and attitude of the team, and he saw improvements last week at Pocono. He said every week, some of the Hendrick-powered cars (there are 10 of them) and the Team Penske cars are the ones to beat.

“It’s been up-and-down (this year),” he said. “We’ve had speed at times and we haven’t won. So obviously we’re not happy with where we are.

“Bowyer and Vickers both have shown a lot (more) speed. That was the case at Pocono and it was sort of the story of the season — one of them finished fourth, the other one got in a crash. But I’m happy with the cars we’re producing and the direction we’re heading.”